A.D. 3596 Descendants of those who fled our galaxy during the great Xathen Civil War have returned, bearing the Message of the Grand Designer. All who receive His Message will believe, and all will become One. Or, more likely, dead. Strathow, a colony world inhabited by Xathen religious Ascetics, has been decimated. A rescue ship disappears after the crew are slaughtered by the survivors they had come...